Emperor's Bane

Chapter 84 The Son of the Forest ([-])

The lion walks in the shadows under the forest.

It was a state that the Primarch felt so familiar and reassuring, he even enjoyed it.

The turquoise pupils were gently brushed by the golden hair, shooting out sharp edges, penetrating through the vast sea of ​​vines and lush leaves, searching quietly in the empty valleys and rivers.

Zhuang Sen sniffed, smelling the breath flowing in the air: the old fallen leaves broke away from the fragile branches, and under the guidance of wind and gravity, they fell to the ground, fermenting a rancid smell; the gurgling water sent The carcasses that have been dead for many days are left with nothing but bones by predators, schools of fish, and water currents; carrion raptors that are huge enough to block the sun roam in the highest sky, and their wings spread greed and fear. The stench of death.

And that sound, the subtle sound, is the sound of birds' wings beating the wind, that is the sound of beasts' feet trampling on the soil, that is the sound of countless or sharp, or thick, or docile, or savage beast roars It is illogically intertwined with neighing, playing a movement that only belongs to the forest and the jungle.

Although there are only survival, struggle and escape, only killing, despicableness and devouring, this does not hinder the vitality and prosperity of the forest itself. Countless competitions, chants and writings related to life and death are accompanied by those living or inanimate things. It keeps playing, one after another, full of vitality.

When all the sounds, all the breaths, all the rhythms of life and death rushed into the mind of the Primarch, he actually had an illusion of "noisy".

Everything is like the forest of Caliban, but there seems to be some differences.

He seemed to be walking in that ancient forest, passing by the trees that scraped the fur of giant beasts, scrutinizing the fur and excrement carefully, and tracking his prey from the barbaric behavior that flaunted his territory.

Jonson still remembered those times, from the tattered leaf costumes, to the standard barbed wire clothes of knight squires, to the neat armor needed to slaughter giant beasts, embellished with cumbersome honor marks.

He remembered how, back then, his body would pass through the woods like a silent knight through an even more silent kingdom, towards...

and many more.

……

……

!!!

Johnson's brow furrowed.

He turned his wrist around and swung a sword light, as if tearing the false curtain with the sharp claws of a wild beast, the lively and noisy sounds became silent in an instant.

There are no fallen leaves, no running water, no sparrowhawk wings piercing the wind overhead, no huge beasts roaring and hunting in the forest.

All that was left was a dead silence.

Only silence.

The simplest dead silence.

Jonson looked at the silence, heard the silence, and felt the silence.

Then took a deep breath.

------

This is a real forest, like the forest of Caliban.

------

In the true silence, he heard laughter.

More deadly laughter.

------

[You see through, Mr. Zhuang Sen, much faster than I imagined. 】

[They didn't stop you, and didn't even complete the deception for a moment. 】

The sound came from all directions, constantly echoing in the sky and the valley, it neither startled the birds, nor aroused the roar of the wild beasts, because everything in this forest was as quiet as death, even the sound of the wind blowing the leaves The rustling sounds are trying to suppress their own rhyme.

The voice seemed to come from the sky, like a lazy goddess relying on the extravagant mountain temple, delivering her words through the breeze and invisible envoys.

【How did you see through...】

Zhuang Sen was walking, he didn't answer immediately, but let out a few hints of ridicule from his clenched teeth.

[I haven't walked in the deep forest for a long time, so I have somewhat forgotten what it looks like. 】

[And you, you don’t know what the real forest looks like at all. You are just imitating, performing the worst imitation and deduction, describing what you saw at the beginning, the original appearance of the world, and then according to your own imagination , add oil and vinegar, and make a funny painting. 】

[Your false dream is like a pile of rocks full of holes. When the wind blows, it may make a beautiful sound, but when someone walks up to it with a hammer, it is fragile. Just like a blank sheet of paper. 】

[Extremely ridiculous. 】

The Primarch mercilessly reached a conclusion, his tone was his habitual orders and requirements to Morgan over the past few years, but this time, the answer to him was not the sentence [obey orders].

But continuous laughter.

He squinted his eyes and bowed his waist slightly, like a real wild beast, his continuous breathing quietly blended into the breeze, his long golden hair was covered by the fine sunlight, like vines in the night, heavy His iron boots grazed the brittle fallen leaves that crackled in the past, without making even the slightest sound.

He is like a beast, a beast of legend that will never exist in reality, they only appear in stories around the campfire, in the hideous scars of the most experienced hunters, they merge into the darkness, Incorporated into pure hunting, it will not be perceived by any light and sight, only the blood of the victims drips little by little in the endless night, indicating their past visits.

And now, Jonson was the beast.

He desperately wants to kill something.

The Primarch continued to move forward, he walked through one piece after another of the deep forest, and his figure wandered repeatedly under countless rifts and giant trees, until a huge sinkhole appeared in front of his eyes, and lying quietly in it, It is the most standard airdrop pod of the Dark Angels.

He found it.

His quarry, his advisor, is around here.

He understands her.

She won't go too far, because a long distance means a lack of control. She hates, and even dreads the feeling of not being able to control everything in her hands.

She thought she was covering it up very well.

Then Jonson heard laughter again.

------

[A dangerous distance, Mr. Johnson. 】

[You are really powerful, I admit, you caught me off guard. 】

The sound continued to echo, but this time, it seemed to be closer, and every character exploded in Jonson's ears.

The Primarch looked up, and he smelled the stench of the beast.

This is not an illusion.

Deep roars began to appear at the end of his vision, one after another, one after another, hundreds of thousands, endless.

The figures of the beasts gathered into a foul-smelling wave, and countless hairs and fangs gathered under the rare light, reflecting the bloodthirsty desire.

With the influx of creatures, the forest seemed to come to life in an instant. Zhuang Sen could hear countless young leaves ringing in unison, and it seemed extremely noisy for a while. Underneath, the tens of thousands of vines quietly pulled away from their bodies, and quickly slid down from the trunks and branches, like poisonous snakes without pupils and fangs, gathering into intertwined clusters on all the land Finally, it turned into strands of long whips, silently beating the air and the ground.

The forest came alive, and in an instant, the active and violent aura swirled under the lion king's nose.

Don't think that nature is kind, that is just a lazy illusion, and that raging nature is a manic beast capable of destroying any serious human being.

But Jonson just smiled.

[A living forest? 】

[I originally thought you would demonstrate more for me. 】

Laughter answered him.

【If you visit according to the agreed time, then I will indeed do more. If you give me a little more time, the whole world will release a destructive rage under my provocation and control. 】

[But there are no ifs in war, you disrupted my steps and rhythm. In this regard, you are despicable, but you are also extremely smart. 】

【……mean? 】

The word made the Lion King frown.

And the laughter seemed sharper.

[Yes, despicable. 】

[If being mean can help you win a battle, would you make yourself mean? 】

This is not a problem, because at the moment the voice fell to the ground, the two people who had already known the answer laughed at the same time.

Zhuang Sen was laughing, a real laugh, a laughter that contained joy, sarcasm, anger, and murderous intent. In this laughter, he raised his great sword, and his green pupils reflected ruthlessness. of light.

Then he charged at the roaring herd.

------

[You are very powerful, Your Excellency, very powerful. 】

【You are the master of war, you were born like this. 】

When [Lion Sword] unleashed a destructive storm in the endless flesh and roar, the sound pierced through the curtain of the whirlwind and came to Zhuang Sen's ear.

The Primarch ignored it, he seemed to be silent in the carnage in front of him, thousands of giant beasts rushed forward under silent control, their scales and claws were flying, overwhelming mountains and seas, and there were still remnants of what they killed each other on their fur. Mottled marks left behind.

There may be hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or even more, but Jonson doesn't care, he swung his great sword, and he harvested more and more beast spirits, and everything seemed to return to him in Caliban Those last days: all the knights went out together, the banners were flying, the armor was shining, the hunting ground with the world as the curtain was pulled up amidst countless roars, blood was shed every day, sacrifices were to be made, more and more, forever endless.

He misses it.

The big sword swung again, and dozens of animal skulls were chopped off.

Finally, he put his sword on the ground, and the endless beast tide became quiet at this moment.

Finally, he laughed out loud.

【war? 】

He smiled.

[You have been by my side for three years, but if you have learned a little bit during these three years, you will not regard everything in front of you as war, it is not even hunting. 】

[What I have learned is not important, Mr. Johnson, but what have I seen from you? 】

[For you, war is also a hunt. 】

Zhuang Sen stopped smiling, and the corners of his mouth were pressed down for a moment.

But the voice continued, the relentless laughter slowly piercing Jonson's armor, slowly melting the next words into a poisonous needle, and shooting it into the Primarch's heart.

【for you……】

[Isn't everything a hunt? 】

[Every one of us will stop at a place in our life, and for some people, his heart is just the vast forest of Caliban. 】

[It is precisely because of this. 】

[You are great, Johnson. 】

------

There was silence for a few seconds.

What broke him was the Primarch's disdainful sneer.

[You should go to Magnus, or Fulgrim, and learn those fancy techniques. 】

He wielded the great sword with unprecedented power, and countless huge beasts turned into dust under the light of the sword.

[War is not for you, and neither are you, Morgan. 】

【I swear, after I catch you, I will make you understand this. 】

There was unprecedented danger in the green pupils, and he constantly exuded his will, eager to find the thief hiding in the deep forest.

【Magnus...Fulgrim...】

Morgan's voice seemed to fall silent for a moment.

[Why not Perturabo? 】

The corner of Lion King's mouth raised slightly.

[My Olympia brother, he is a rough designer, he knows the art of war and negotiation, but he never has the power to bring out his talents, as long as he can't control himself, he will accomplish nothing, he even Worse than Horus. 】

He moved forward silently, stepping on the gurgling blood.

[Your last sentence made the whole sentence lose its meaning. Your Excellency, who is more glorious than Horus? Even in the dark angel's fortress, I can hear the wolf god Glory. 】

Her voice was almost exaggerated, mixed with almost undisguised provocation. Facing this voice, Jonson still kept a cold face.

But he admitted that there was a small, nameless flame burning in his heart.

【Horus...】

He murmured the name softly, as if referring to an unrelated stranger.

[I know that he is jealous of me and complaining about me. Although I can't understand his emotions, even after so many star fields, I can still guess his thoughts: he doesn't want to join this war , he didn't want his heirs to bleed, but he didn't feel that anyone else besides him could carry it all. 】

[He is always favored on the surface, but he is always dissatisfied, with gentle words, a big stick in hand, hungry, and lack of greed. 】

Jonson heard laughter, sharper than ever.

【sound……】

[He is very suitable for the Warmaster. 】

Where Jonson himself didn't notice, he couldn't help frowning because of this sentence.

The Primarch was silent for a while, then snorted coldly.

[Is there any choice? 】

[Either irritable, or pedantic, or have no ability and attitude to take responsibility. 】

【He is the only choice. 】

He said, but couldn't help but snort coldly.

He heard the sound of boots scraping against leaves.

[Then why... didn't you choose Guilliman? 】

The question made Jonson pause in his steps.

Then he laughed.

【Yeah yeah. 】

[If you don't tell me, I'll forget it. 】

[There is also Guilliman, which is an even worse option. 】

(End of this chapter)